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A Tillinghast Reef Hole?

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Jim Nugent:
Tillie says the Reef hole is around 225 yards.  With the advances in technology, to play the same today the hole would need to be 260 yards or maybe longer. 

Phil Young:
Jim,

That is true, his Reef design was for a long one-shotter that mentions it being 225-yards yet he also wrote that he himself had already built "variations of this" concept. An example of that variation is Southward Ho CC’s 14th hole. If you examine the design drawing posted earlier it is incredibly similar to his 1926 concept hole sketch. So why do I say it is a variation of his concept?

Because of the exact example that you cited in your comment, it was 190 yards long from the tips... Especially as it was being built at the time that article was being written it is important in the context of your question.

SoHOCC is less than 1/2 mile from the Atlantic Ocean on Long Island's south shore. The wind off the ocean is a constant factor and is generally from the southwest. The hole plays ever so gently to the southeast and so most tee shots will be hit into a wind blowing either generally or directly against them thereby lengthening the hole, sometimes quite dramatically.

Another startling variation was the 5th hole on the original Blue course at Bethpage State Park.
At 300 yards it is the only known two-shotter Reef hole designed by Tilly.

We know it was a Reef hole for several reasons including the design of the hole as shown on the original drawings and plasticene model of the hole which was part of a large display model of the entire 4-course and park project and displayed in the lobby of the Clubhouse. More importantly, prior to opening day in 1935 it was described this way in a hole-by-hole description of the course in the Farmingdale Post: “Hole No. 5 – 300 yards: This is the famous “REEF” hole. There are fairways for the short and the long player. The short player goes to the right and then over mounds to a tightly trapped green. The long player must carry mounds 190 yards from the tee. A pond to the left adds a mental hazard to the drive.”

Of all 72 holes on the 4 courses of Bethpage when it was built in the 1930s this is the ONLY hole that was given a name… and describing it as the famous Reef hole shows that its design was specific and evidently well-known at that time, or at least well-enough to put it in print…

So today we can’t get hung up on length of the hole when either restoring or building a new one. After all, Tilly, the man who created the concept of this hole type said that there had been “variations” on it already built and that he himself had already done so and would again…

Jeff, I’ll defer to your description of the hole as I’ve never seen it in person. When I’m back up later this year let’s get together and go look at it together…

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